cute

Evening Kittens!

/ Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

Today, we did indeed break the 30C/86F mark, but by the “cool” of the evening (you know you’re acclimatizing to the heat when 27C/81F starts to feel cool!), the kittens were out to play!

I haven’t had much luck getting Butterscotch’s babies to come close while I’m sitting in the camp chair, but they’ve come closer to my daughter when she sit on the ground. So when I had the chance, I decided to get down on the ground to see if I could lure them closer.

It worked.

This was totally worth the pain of having to get back up again! :-D

Also, I would like to introduce to you, Bradicus, of the twins, Bradicus and Chadicus. These two look very much alike, but Bradicus has the distinct white line going up his forehead, and a white tip on his tail.

Out of focus in the background is Caramel, with her caramel coloured swirls on her sides.

Awww… Butterscotch and all her babies. :-)

Nutmeg was enjoying attention this evening, and he even let me pick him up! As long as we don’t try to walk, he will let us hold him, and he gets very cuddly!

Rosencrantz’ babies were running around, too.

Meet Nosencrantz.

I wasn’t able to get a picture of her orange sibling, Toesencrantz, this evening.

Then there are Junk Pile’s four, but when we see them, it’s usually in the form of a tornado of kitten, running away across the yard. Hopefully, they will start hanging around more.

So many furry babies! <3

The Re-Farmer

Some critter surprises

/ Re-Farmer / 6 Comments

I got to see the kittens again this evening, but this morning, I had quite the critter surprise!

To top up our potato grow bags, I headed to the outer hard with the wheelbarrow, with the tools needed to rake up some grass clippings for much, and get a load of garden soil from the pile.

As I headed passed the big branch pile, I saw movement at the garden soil. Two furry creatures, right where I needed to go to shovel soil!

When they saw me, one of them dashed under the branches, but the other froze in place.

Watching me.

Even as I came closer, it didn’t move.

Which means I finally got a good picture of our mystery critter!

It didn’t move away until I picked up the shovel and started walking right up to it! Then it dashed under the branch pile, too.

I have no idea what they were doing on the dirt pile. They weren’t digging or anything. They seemed to be just looking around. Maybe playing?

As I came back several times to get more soil or rake up more clippings, I had to pass the branch pile each time. A couple of times, the branch pile screamed at me! Of all the names these guys have – woodchuck, groundhog, marmot, etc. – whistle pig seems the most appropriate to the noise they make!

Gosh, it’s so cuty.

Speaking of cute…

As I finished the evening watering and came around to the front of the house to put things away, I saw a skunk running out of the kibbled house and towards the storage house. As I went to the sun room, I saw the mama skunk peek out at me, her babies tucked close against her. When she saw me staying by the house, she decided it was safe to head towards the kibble house.

With her THREE babies!

Three! I hadn’t seen the third one before!

Though they went for the kibble house, when I came around the other side to look at them, they all ran off again, this time leaving the yard completely.

While going back and forth to put things away, I paused for a while to say hello to the kittens, who were with Butterscotch at their food and water bowls.

I was never able to get a picture with the calico, though.

I left a camp chair near the food bowl, so we can sit comfortably while letting the kittens get used to us. This kitten was very fascinated by the wiggling toe of my shoe!

I just managed to get a picture of her when she decided to stand up on her hind legs and bat at her mother. :-D

Gosh, they are cute.

We got cute critters all over the place, today!

The Re-Farmer

I can’t do it anymore

/ Re-Farmer / 8 Comments

Nope. I can’t.

Because I’m a suck.

When we find the skunks in the kibble house, we have been chasing them away with the hose. Today, I went out to do the watering and saw a couple of skunks. One immediately ran off and I saw it head under the storage house. The bigger one kept on eating. When I sprayed it with the hose, it disappeared behind the cat shelter, so I went around the kibble house to spray it away.

Instead, I saw her run off, but something looked very different. She had something in her mouth, and… a second tail?

It was her babies. She ran off, carrying one in her mouth, while a second one stayed close beside her.

I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t chase off hungry babies!

They’re not hurting the cats, nor being aggressive. They’re digging up the yard for grubs, but that doesn’t bother me. The only real issue is that kibble is bad for them, but not nutritionally. It’s about how their jaws are hinged. But we have hungry mamas that feel safe enough to bring their hungry babies to the kibble house! How can I possible keep chasing them away?

I am such a suck.

The Re-Farmer

Say Cheese!

/ Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Ginger was not cooperative about getting his picture taken this morning.

Cheddar, on the other hand, was more than happy with the attention!

Cheddar such a big, beefy slab of cheese!

We got a lot done outside today, so I’ll be breaking things up into several posts. A few more things crossed off the gardening to-do list! :-)

The Re-Farmer

I got Ginger pics!

/ Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Ginger has been so active, it’s been hard to get pictures of him!

I finally managed to catch him while napping. :-) He earned that nap! He spent much of the day, running around and batting at a cat toy. He clearly has adapted well to the loss of his leg, but being able to run and bat at things at the same time is really impressive!

His sister, Cabbages, and Keith were being absolutely adorable. Those two get along really well.

Ginger is not the only cat that likes to hang out on the very edge of the bed.

He’s also not the only one that has rolled and squirmed around so much near the edge of the bed, they fall right off! :-D It’s usually Cheddar that does it. Thankfully, Ginger didn’t fall off this time. :-)

(Oh! I just wanted to add that I got a rather exciting interruption while I was working on this post. My daughter came over to let me know a Crespo squash has emerged! It was not visible when I checked on them this morning. :-) )

Back to cat stuff…

While doing our city shop, we’d picked up some wood pellets to try as a litter alternative. Today I cleaned out one litter pan and put some in. The cats were very, very curious about it! It does make a lot more noise while being poured into the pan than normal cat litter does. :-D

There was one unexpected problem, though.

As the cats checked out the new, rattling round things in the litter box, they started trying to chew on it! We caught a few of them grabbing pieces and taking them out of the litter box. We discouraged that, of course. We were starting to think the cats wouldn’t use it, but I’m happy to say one of the cats finally did – and I’m not smelling a thing!

So far, so good! If this stuff works out, it’ll be much better on the budget.

The Re-Farmer

So much orange!

/ Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

I finally was able to get a photo of Ginger today.

Turmeric has been cuddling up with him fairly regularly, these days, which I am so happy to see!

It still throws me, how much bigger he is than Turmeric.

Then this happened.

Cheddar is about the size of both Ginger and Turmeric together, and definitely heavier than both together! :-D

He has been mostly ignoring Ginger, so this is awesome!

That is just so much orange. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Ginger and his big sister!

/ Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Ginger finally got cooperative enough for me to get some photos of him. :-)

He was very squirmy.

He’s like a weird, twisty rubber band!!! How the heck did he get his front leg like that?? :-D

Nicco wasn’t too sure what to make of him. :-D

Can you believe she’s about 2 months older than he is? She looks so tiny in comparison!

:-D

The Re-Farmer

Settling in

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

The little calico has been settling in surprisingly well since I abducted her from outside.

She has been quicker to explore and be around the other cats than Tissue did.

Fenrir doesn’t take to the new additions well in general and, of all the cats, Turmeric has been the most aggressive towards her. For the most part, the little calico has been ignoring their hisses but, when necessary, she stands her ground rather than getting intimidated.

I took this picture last night, as she claimed the middle of my bed. When she lay down for a nap, she actually used Fenrir’s butt as a pillow! When Fenrir finally noticed, she hissed and ran off, but the little calico didn’t even flinch!

This morning, I was awakened by a tiny body pouncing on my feet. :-D

She still isn’t very comfortable with us humans. Aside from the foot pouncing, that is. ;-) Once in a while, we’ll manage to pet her, or just hold our hands out for her to sniff and gently bat at our fingers. She doesn’t seem scared or nervous at all; just stand offish.

Meanwhile, I discovered the girls had already named her.

She’s called Cabbages.

Because she has so many patches…

LOL!!

The Re-Farmer

A little Tissue

/ Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I updated on the status of Little Braveheart, aka Tissue, now that she has been brought indoors.

For the first while, she hid out in the basement. She began to emerge more often when the cats were given their evening treat of wet cat food. My daughters would, whenever possible, spend time down there, coaxing her out and getting her used to company.

As she started going upstairs more often, the other cats were true to their own personalities! Some took to her, some didn’t. For some reason, the spice girls in particular would start hissing and chasing her.

Cheddar and David were the most relaxed with her, but it has been our old mama cat, that moved out here with us, that has been both a help – and a problem!

She has always been good with the kittens, and when Beep Beep resoundingly weaned them, they discovered that “grandma” would let them suckle. It’s been a battle to get them to stop.

Then Tissue discovered this.

Several times now, we’ve caught her and one of the spice girls, trying to nurse on “grandma” – and being very much encouraged to do it!

On the one hand, this is not good. I don’t think cats can be stimulated to lactate without having kittens, but the attempt to nurse on her has left her looking like her nips are about to bleed.

On the other hand, since they’ve become nursing sisters, Tissue and the spice girls have become affectionate with each other!

I’ve made a belly band for grandma that I put on her when we can’t stop them from trying to nurse. It’s loose and she can get out of it easily, but it’s usually enough for them to stop trying.

Tissue had been aggressively trying to nurse, so I put the band on. Grandma then lay down to cuddle with Cheddar. Tissue clambered on, trying to find a nip. Much to my surprise, Cheddar reached out and arm to block her!

So Tissue just curled up in a ball on top of both of them!

I think she is now socialized enough to put up for adoption! :-D

Not that anyone seems to be interested in adopting cats at all right now. We haven’t had a single person interested in any of the kittens this time. Not a single contact! :-(

The Re-Farmer